


All That Matters

by tptigger



Series: The Book Fairy [2]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Gen, Not a Crossover, Not quite as ridiculous I intended, harry potter fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 16:40:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is dismayed to learn that Natasha thinks she's a Slytherin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All That Matters

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Rivulet027 and Mandolin for the beta. Characters were created by Stan Lee and owned by Marvel Comics. They are borrowed with love, but without permission.
> 
> This was meant to be more ridiculous, until it wasn't. I'm not sure that it's quite as good a character study as the first one either. You know that fic you're not sure you should post but your betas seem to really like it? This is that fic.
> 
> No wrock in this one, but if you know the genre and want a soundtrack, I recommend House Song by Ministry of Magic and Pottermore by Alex Carpenter.

"Hey, Natasha, unless you want Happy to drive us to the aquarium, we'd better get moving," Steve said as the elevators opened onto her floor of Avengers tower.

"I'm not coming," Natasha said, turning a page of her book.

"Come on, you have to come," Steve said. "Everyone missed you at the museum, and unlike last time you're not interrogating Soviet crime bosses."

"Azerbaijani," Natasha corrected absently.

"That. Come on, Amy and Katie made me pinky swear that I would get you to come if you weren't off saving the world," Steve said.

Natasha looked up from her book. "What did you tell them?"

"That you had to work, that there were lives at stake, and that no one would let me go with you," Steve said.

"Seriously, Steve, do you know what happens if you break a pinky swear?" Natasha asked.

Given she wasn't putting the book down, this could get interesting. Steve just crossed his arms.

"Absolutely nothing," Natasha said.

"If you call Amy and Katie's sad puppy dog faces nothing."

"Those are small girls, how do you fit around their little fingers?" Natasha asked. "Besides, I don't have to see it."

"That's very Slytherin of you, Natasha," Steve said.

"Thanks."

"That wasn't a compliment. And as for not seeing it..." Steve pulled out his Stark phone. "This thing takes pictures. That can be changed."

"It's totally a compliment, I'm a Slytherin," Natasha said.

Steve blinked. "No. You're not. Look if you don't come I'll tell Clint you spent the whole time he was in Czechoslovakia..."

"The Czech Republic..."

"...the Balkans sulking in your room reading trashy romance novels."

Natasha looked up at him. "I am a Slytherin. In the interest of not losing Barton's esteem I will lower myself to go to the aquarium. I will also, in the tradition of my house, be plotting my revenge the entire time."

Steve harumphed.

"Do you have your sunscreen?" Natasha asked.

"Hmm... I would've pegged you for more of a Gryffindor than a Hufflepuff."

"I'm just making sure Captain America getting skin cancer doesn't get in the way of my ambitions for the Avengers," Natasha said.

"If you say so, Nat," Steve said.

"Clint's the only one who gets to call me Nat."

"Clint doesn't know you're a wizard. I do." Steve said.

Natasha looked up and glared at him.

Steve smiled wolfishly. "I could always change that."

"Now who's the Slytherin?" Natasha asked. "You'd be in for half the teasing, you know."

Steve's phone beeped. He looked at the picture message and smiled, wondering if Amy(or at least her mom) was psychic.

He showed Natasha the picture. "You really want to disappoint those puppy dog eyes?"

"Fine," Natasha said, putting down her book. "But for the record, I have too much red in my ledger to be a Gryffindor."

"How much of it was before you were making your own choices?"

"I'd better get my purse or Stark will be asking all sorts of questions about why we had Happy drive us to the aquarium."

* * *

"How did you get Natasha to come?" Dave asked as he and Steve sat on a bench waiting for the females of the group to wind their way through the bathroom. "I was sure she'd find a way to bow out."

"Partly a particularly puppy dog eyed picture of Amy that Amanda sent and partly blackmail."

"Are you sure you're not a Slytherin?" Dave asked. "Wait, never mind, I forgot who I was talking to."

Steve raised his eyebrow at that.

Dave shrugged.

"Natasha thinks she's a Slytherin."

"So do a lot of wizards," Dave said. "Doesn't mean anything."

"I think she thinks that because she thinks that she's a bad person."

"Umbridge was a Hufflepuff, as Natasha will be one of the first to remind you. It's not a big deal, Steve, don't worry about it."

It _was_ a big deal, but Steve would have to let it drop. For now.

* * *

It was during team breakfast the next morning, when Natasha stole the last chocolate Pop-tart from under Thor's nose that Steve saw an opportunity.

"Very brave of you, getting between Thor and Pop-Tarts."

"It was just my ambition to have a chocolate Pop-Tart for breakfast."

"Mmm-hmm," Steve said, unbelieving.

Bruce raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

* * *

A few days later, the team were fighting a giant robot (autonomous cyborg, Tony had said, but Steve was more worried about the fact that it was larger than the Hulk and able to crush tall buildings than about what to call it.)

They'd tried to establish a line, but the perimeter wasn't holding. They needed to regroup, and fast. He did a quick head count.

"Black Widow, what's your 20?" he asked.

"PS42 over on Hester. I'm working with the administration to evacuate the students," was the immediate response.

"You're less than two blocks from..."

"So are these kids!" Natasha snapped. "They're evacuating, I'm looking for a good point to lay a trap. Unless S.H.I.E.L.D. or Bruce has any more idea of what's controlling that thing."

"Some kind of radio wave, but we can't locate the antenna," Sitwell replied over the comms. "I'm sending back-up to evacuate the civilians."

"Working as fast as I can," Bruce said. "Sure you don't want me out there, Cap?"

"Not yet," Steve replied. "You're no good to us unless we know what you're going to smash, and we're pretty sure that thing's Hulk proof. Iron Man, go cover Black Widow. If anyone has any ideas how to drive this thing Southeast towards the river?"

"Given that so far all we've done is annoy it," Clint replied. "Though it didn't like the explosive arrow to the foot."

"Try it," Steve said.

An arrow exploded, making the robot nearly dance away-- then head straight for Clint's position.

"Hawkeye," Steve said.

"Already moving, I'll try to get it to chase me," Clint said. "Not sure how to do that while avoiding the school, though. Oh, crap."

The robot had turned, away from the parkland (which was too narrow to help) and down Allen towards Delancy Street, and the school.

"It's heading right for you, Widow," Clint said.

"How else can I annoy this thing?" Natasha said.

"I've got repulser beams," Tony reminded her.

"Did you miss the way they bounced off the robot and nearly took down that building?" Clint snapped.

Steve frowned. "Black Widow, stand down, there's no way you can..."

"Got it," Natasha said.

"I found the antenna thanks to JARVIS's scans," Bruce said into the comms. "I'm downlinking the data to your phones, but how anyone's going to get close enough..."

"Just be glad American schools still have climbing ropes in gym class," Natasha said.

"Do I want to ask?" Steve asked, racing down Allen.

"Not really," Tony said. "If it works, I'll go in towards the head and try to disable it. Hey, Hulk, do you think a well aimed smash would do the job?"

Steve could hear Bruce sigh over the comms.

"You're assuming the Other Guy would take directions."

"There's no more good you can do back there, Bruce, we need you," Steve said, leaving the 'I'm sorry you have to come down here so soon after the last battle' unspoken.

"On my way."

Steve rounded the corner to find the robot face up on the pavement, a series of knotted ropes hanging at the robot's chest level between a flag pole and two buildings (the flag pole was being used as ballast). "How... Widow, leave that for Iron Man!"

Natasha had darted under the robot, and sprung the panel below its ear. She ripped out a series of wires, and the robot's jerking motions ceased.

Steve ran up to her, the glare on her face the only thing keeping him from enveloping her in a bone crushing hug. Clint was hot on his heels.

"That," the archer panted, "was either the bravest or the craziest thing I have ever seen."

"Both," Steve said.

"I knocked the robot over with my cunning," Natasha said, looking meaningfully at Steve.

"Not what we're talking about and you know it," Clint said.

"Report!" came Sitwell's disgruntled voice in their earpieces.

Steve had barely known the guy, but there were times that he really missed Coulson.

* * *

They were back in the tower after the debrief when Steve and Natasha next had a chance to talk. Steve found Natasha alone in the common kitchen, head in the fridge.

"That was incredibly Gryffindor of you, taking on the robot on your own like that..."

"It was my ambition to..."

"First of all, don't do that again, you nearly gave all of us heart attacks. Unlike Tony in the suit or the Hulk, you are _not_ indestructible. Second of all, don't give me that. You're not super, Natasha, and you keep up with super heroes. You're incredibly brave, and you're a good person..."

"A good person wouldn't have as much red in their..."

"Stuff it," Steve said. "The way you were raised, and now you fight for us. It's our choices, Natasha, that make us who we truly are."

"You don't know me," Natasha said. "Trust me on this."

"Gr..." Steve stared, but then he heard footsteps, and stopped in mid-sentence. He changed tactics. "You're always brave, Natasha, you go right to the heart of the trouble and put a stop to it."

Bruce walked in, heading straight for the fridge and sports drinks.

"I'm pragmatic," Natasha said. "I make sure to cut things off at the source, by any means necessary. Put the Red Bull down, Bruce."

Bruce sighed, grabbing the large bottle of Gatorade instead.

"Sorry you brought out the Other Guy for nothing," Steve said.

"That's just because Natasha took care of business, I'm not too tired," Bruce said with a shrug. "But do yourselves a favor and give this discussion a rest." He walked to the door, peered out, and looked down the corridor. "Besides, you're forgetting that Natasha is Russian. She would've gone to Durmstrang." With that he left.

Steve and Natasha exchanged glances, then cracked up.

"I think we'd better give it a rest in front of the team," Natasha said. "At some point, Tony might figure it out, and then where will we be?"

"Tony's read the books?" Steve asked dubiously.

"He's seen all the movies."

"There are movies?"

"Unfortunately," Natasha replied.

* * *

Later that night, Steve was sitting in his quarters, paging through _The Restaurant at the End of the Universe_ when there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

Clint walked through.

"I had no idea she was going to jump the robot like..." Steve stopped in mid-sentence as Clint held up his hand.

"You need to give the good person thing a rest," Clint said.

"She's..."

"I agree with you, Cap, but it's not that simple to convince her," Clint said. "Her file doesn't have the worst of it, and I doubt she's even told me the worst of it. It's baby steps with her, you can't just change her mind about her whole identity overnight."

"I don't like the way she talks about herself, it can't be healthy," Steve said.

Clint cocked an eyebrow. "How very modern of you, Steve, but I'm not sure the pop psychology is the way to go."

"It's straight out of her S.H.I.E.L.D. file."

"If the pros haven't been able to do that in all these years, how do you think you're going to change her mind in a few weeks?" Clint said.

Steve sighed. "You probably have a point, but I don't want to just stand by..."

"I don't either," Clint said. "But beating a dead horse won't help; it's a fine line between encouraging her and berating her, and you're too close to the latter."

"OK," Steve said.

"And seriously, the Harry Potter thing is completely beside the point, give it a rest."

Steve blinked. "I don't know what..."

"I'm a spy, Steve," Clint said, "give me some credit. Besides, I started wondering where she was going secretly all time. Man, was I glad that she just wanted to geek out without my knowing."

Steve raised an eyebrow and Clint shrugged.

"I'm just saying, choose your battles, Cap," Clint said.

"Got it," Steve replied.

Clint looked at him dubiously, but the matter drop.

* * *

A couple weeks later, Steve sank into the couch in the common room opposite Natasha.

She looked up. "Are you here to chase me into bed?"

Steve snorted. "Like I could. Even if I could, you're not going to sleep until Clint's back, so what's the point?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. tells me his ETA is about an hour from now."

"How..."

Steve shrugged. "I guess when they detached him to the Avengers I became his team leader."

"What are you doing up?" Natasha asked. "It's late."

"Waiting to hear back from Bruce and Tony about whatever they're up to," Steve said.

"Do you really buy that training exercise crap?" Natasha asked.

"Yes," Steve said. "And that's what worries me. I've got three team members in the field due back soon, so I'm not sleeping."

"You don't wait up for me," Natasha said.

"I hide in my room when I wait up for you so that you don't kick my butt," Steve replied evenly.

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"I can vouch for that, Agent Romanoff," JARVIS said, helpfully.

"Do I want to ask how much of this gets back to Tony?" Steve asked.

"There are privacy protocols..." JARVIS started, but stopped when Steve and Natasha burst out laughing.

JARVIS made a sound a bit like a mechanical harumph and quieted.

There were no sounds but the clicking of Natasha's keys and the turning of Steve's pages for awhile.

"What are you reading?" Natasha asked, stretching her hands.

"Douglas Adams, why?"

"Just curious," Natasha said. She took a deep breath, staring at the screen as if it was mocking her.

"That's not your paperwork glare," Steve said, idly.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked.

"Pottermore sorting quiz," Natasha said.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

Natasha turned the laptop around, and Steve looked at it. "I didn't know Pottermore could do that."

"It's kind of rare," Natasha said.

Steve smiled at her after reading the screen. "Well, I guess we're both right, you could be a Gryffindor or a Slytherin. You get to choose. Who do you want to be, Natasha?"

Natasha studied him carefully. "You're not going to lobby for me to be a Gryffindor?"

"It's a computer game, Natasha. That's not really what we were talking about, anyway. All that matters is who you choose to be out here. And that's the same thing I've chosen to be."

Natasha scoffed. "I'm not a hero."

"But you are an Avenger," Steve said. "And that's more awesome than being a Slytherin or a Gryffindor."

Natasha smiled at him.

"Just remember, if you choose Slytherin, you'd better watch your back, 'cause Gryffindor's going to overtake you in the House Cup."

"I hate to interrupt, but Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner have just arrived in the garage," JARVIS said.

Natasha clicked something on her computer, then clicked over to what Steve would bet was a news site. He'd have to log on to his own Pottermore account to see what she'd chosen. But it was no more than idle curiosity: the bottom line was that Natasha had chosen to be an Avenger. And that was what mattered.


End file.
